Oral Answers to Questions — Justice – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 10 November 2009.
Chloe Smith
Conservative, Norwich North
2:30,
10 November 2009
Whether he plans to bring forward proposals to ensure that defendants who are acquitted in criminal trials receive costs in all cases.
Bridget Prentice
Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice
I congratulate the hon. Lady on her rise to Parliament. I hope that she will attend Justice questions regularly. I refer her to the answer that I gave a short time ago: defendants who are acquitted in criminal trials should normally receive their reasonable costs, unless the court decides otherwise.
Chloe Smith
Conservative, Norwich North
I listened to the Minister's response to my hon. Friend Tony Baldry, prior to her complimentary remarks, for which I thank her very much. But surely the Criminal Cases (General) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 do indeed prevent an acquitted defendant from recovering their costs?
Bridget Prentice
Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice
As I have said, it is essential that we target our resources effectively. Costs are available to defendants in criminal cases in the Crown court where they have been acquitted, but those costs are staged at the level of legal aid costs. In other words, they should get the same as they should get had they been legally aided.
Dominic Grieve
Shadow Secretary of State (Justice)
It is not legally aided.
Bridget Prentice
Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice
Of course they are not legally aided-that is the point-but the level of costs that they will get back from the taxpayer from central funds will be the same as if they had been legally aided. That is fair both to them and to legally aided defendants.
John Bercow
Chair, Members Estimate Committee, Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Members Estimate Committee, Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
Order. I very gently say to Mr. Grieve that the Shadow Justice team, of all shadow teams, should behave in an orderly manner.
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